Forklift & Material Handler — Front-End Production

Central Garden & Pet; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 36,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision insurance

Employer-paid life insurance

401k

Paid vacation and holidays

Employee assistance program

Education assistance

Discounts on cell phones, movieTickets

Job summary

Central Garden & Pet is hiring a Material Handler – Front-End Production in Fort Wayne, IN. You will feed the production line, track material deliveries with a forklift, and perform put-away of goods and timely loading/unloading of trucks to support production teams.

The role emphasizes safety, accuracy in material handling, and collaboration with production leads. Opportunities exist to explore warehouse, inventory, back-end production, or quality roles within the company.

Qualifications

• Basic counting and math skills.
• Ability to push/pull up to 50lbs.
• Ability to stand/walk/bend/stoop up to 3 hours at a stretch.
• Strong verbal and non-verbal communication skills; written documentation and tracking of materials; verbal interaction with multiple individuals at various levels within the organization.
• Flexible; must be willing to “learn as you go” and have a “can do” attitude.
• Self-starter: must be willing to ask questions and speak up if something doesn’t make sense or seems out of place.
• Team player: must be willing to pitch in to assist team members with other duties as requested.
• One (1) year of experience operating a forklift preferred.

Responsibilities

• Feeds the production line and manually tracks the delivery of materials with a forklift.
• Put-away of finished goods or raw materials.
• Timely loading and unloading of trucks and support of cart management for the production team as needed.
• Loading or unloading materials manually, off or onto pallets, platforms, skids, or lifting devices
• Partners with Production Leads and the Quality Coordinator for validation of materials and timing.
• Transporting materials to different locations within the facility.
• Optimizing loads to ensure operational efficiency.
• Securing loads to the machine before transportation.
• Report any faulty equipment, damage to racks, or other potential safety hazards.
• Removes and manually tracks unused or surplus materials at the end of a production run.
• Packing cushions when time allows.Follow all safety guidelines; especially for glad hand locks, dock locks, wheel chocks, PPE, lifting techniques, and housekeeping.

Skills

Forklift operation

Basic math

Stand for 3 hours

Communication skills

Team player

Willing to learn

Tools

SAP

PLM

Job description

Central Garden & Pet is hiring a Material Handler – Front-End Production in Fort Wayne, IN. You will feed the production line, track material deliveries with a forklift, and perform put-away of goods and timely loading/unloading of trucks to support production teams.

The role emphasizes safety, accuracy in material handling, and collaboration with production leads. Opportunities exist to explore warehouse, inventory, back-end production, or quality roles within the company.